TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Is the government-funded Margao Municipal Council’s Sonsodo waste treatment plant designed and equipped to accept and treat waste generated beyond the town jurisdiction?
This question is doing the rounds in the corridors of the civic body and outside in the light of the threat held out by Navelim villagers to stop Margao sewage from flowing into the Sirvodem Sewage Treatment Plant if Navelim waste is not accepted at Sonsodo.
Inquiries have revealed that the waste treatment plant set up at Sonsodo has a capacity to treat 50 tons of waste per day. The plant, however, has a provision to increase its capacity to 75 tons a day over a period of years.
Says Fomento Green Chief Executive Officer, Sridhar Kamat: “Whether Sonsodo should accept waste from beyond the municipal jurisdiction or not is a decision which falls within the domain of the civic body. Right now, we are mandated to accept waste brought by MMC trucks. We are running the treatment plant as mandated by the Concession agreement”.
Sources in the know say though the waste treatment plant has an inbuilt mechanism to treat waste up to 75 tons capacity, the same cannot be done overnight.
Navelim MLA and Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado, however, says that it would not make a big difference if the municipality decides to accept Navelim waste at Sonsodo.
“Navelim is indeed facing a bad situation on the garbage front. That’s the reason why we have approached the Margao civic body to accept our waste. Margao sewage had been flowing to the Navelim sewage plant all these years despite the people exposed to stink and pollution, but villagers had never opposed the sewage plant”, he said.
On the other hand, Margao Municipal Council Chairperson Arthur D’Silva says the Margao civic body has not rejected the request of the Navelim MLA to accept waste at Sonsodo.
“The council has only decided that the civic body will think of accepting waste from beyond the city jurisdiction only after putting our house in order. Right now, there’s no landfill site at Sonsodo. Capping of the existing dumpyard is yet to take place. Our door-to-door waste collection is yet to take off. Unless, the civic body streamlines its waste collection and disposal, it can ill afford to accept waste from the neighbouring villages at this juncture”, Arthur said.
Meanwhile, all eyes are focused on Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar’s visit to Margao on Tuesday after the Navelim villagers led by the Fisheries Minister had stopped the flow of Margao sewage in the Sirvodem sewage treatment plant. The villagers have threatened to intensify the ongoing battle if the civic body fails to open its doors for their waste at Sonsodo.
